Learn Kurdish: A Multi-level Course in Kurmanji

307 Pages·1996·13.624 MB·Bay Foreign Language Books

by  Baran Rizgar, Nevin Yavuz

Learn KURDISH
Baran Rizgar
Dersêrt KURDI
.hisirovvyrn înnftH
Baran Rizgar
L e a rn KURDISH
A multi-level course in
Kurmanji

Copyright © Baran RIZGAR, 1996
45 Wilmot Close, Peckham Hill St., London SEI5 6TZ
TEL/FAX: [phone]
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro­
duced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form
or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the author.
Illustrated by Nevin YAVUZ
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by Lithosphere Print & Production Network
20 Sussex Way, London N7 6RS. TEL: [phone]
CONTENTS
1-3...................................................................................... Alphabet
4-8............................................................................ Indefinite Articles
9-13............................. Demonstrative Pronouns, Questions, Negation
14-20...................................................................... Personal Pronouns
21-26.............................................................. Qualitative Adjectives
27-31................................................................... The Possessive Case
32- 37........................................................... Nouns in the Oblique Case
36-40............................................................................................. Ezafet
41-42........................................................................................... Colours
43-48................................................................................... Prepositions
49-53......................................................... Superlative, Diminutive
54-59....................................... Hebûn (there is/are, to have, to exist)
60-65........................................................ Numbers, Telling the Time
66-80.............................. Verbs; infinitive, imperative, present tense
81-84.......... The Calendar- Months, The Days of the Week, Seasons
85-95.................................... Present Tense: meşîn, revîn, çûn, hatin
96-97.............................. The Vocative, Interjections, Wishes, Curses
98-101.................................................. Transitive-Intransitive Verbs
102-124................................................ Simple Past Tense, Twin Verbs
125-136 ........................................................ Present Perfect Tense
137-142..................... Bilanî (Dema Nuha)/Optative Mood (Present)
143-167........................... Future Tense, As Soon As, Kanîn, Zanîn
166-171............................................................... Indefinite Pronouns
172-176............................................ Infinitives as Nouns, ku (that)
177-184.................................................... Noun Phrase as Modifier
185-196.................. Divêtin (must, ought to, to need), Conditional
197-208................................ Past Continuous Tense, may, maybe
209-214 ............................................................. Past Perfect Tense
215-227 ......... Verbs ending in -andin, Causative, the Passive Form
228-241................ Bilanî: Past, Future in the Past, Heta ku, Da ku
242-249 ................................ Future Perfect, Divêtin (past), Teva ku
250-258 ..................... balo, qe nebe, bê, bi, ji dewsa, ji xeynî, xwe
259-261................................................... kirin as an auxuliary verb
262-293................ Masculine and Feminine Nouns, Diffrent Spellings,
Compound Words
294-298 .................................................................................... Index
III
INTRODUCTION
After publishing Dersên Kurdî and Kurdish-English, English-Kurdish
Dictionary in 1993,1 received many requests for a similar Kurdish
text book written in English. This book which is a follow up to my
earlier works is also a response to those requests.
The course is based on “Dersên Kurd!” and the text that I have written
and used for my lectures in the Kurdish class in London for about 6
years. It is a multi-level course for adults and young adults who want
to learn the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish.
The Kurdish dialect of Northern Kurmanji is spoken by most Kurds in
Northern Kurdistan (the Turkish part), all Kurds in the former Soviet
Union and Syrian Kurdish areas, and some of the Kurds in the East
and South of Kurdistan (the Iranian and Iraqi parts).
The lessons start with the Kurdish alphabet and teaches, revises and
practices grammar step by step. They finally reach an upper
intermediate level.
Each lesson start with a vocabulary (ferhengok) of about 20 words
followed by the grammar dealt with in that section. As the way a
language works is best shown by examples, vocabulary and grammar
sections are followed by examples (sentences) which prepare the
readers for dialogues, readings, folk stories and proverbs. Each lesson
ends in exercises (hîndarî) which is a self-check review section.
Vocabulary sections include about 2,000 basic Kurdish words. Other
sections are based on the vocabulary and grammar chosen for that
lesson. They are planned to practice the vocabulary and the grammar.
Examples (sentences) show grammar in use. They have been translated
into English to help the readers to understand them more easily. These
are literal translations. Awkward English sentences resulting from this
are expected to be overlooked. Where there is no equivalent English
verbal form matching the Kurdish form (such as biianî) the
interpretation is dependant on the context.
IV
Dialogues, readings, Kurdish folk stories and proverbs give the
readers a good idea of how the language works. They are mostly
written in everyday Kurdish and help to practice Kurdish in common
situations. Dialogues are translated into English at the end of the
book.
Exercises (hîndam) provide a self-check review to help the readers
revise what they have studied, test their knowledge and decide what
they need to practice more. If the reader finds the exercises too
difficult, they should return to examples and explanation for better
preparation. There is a key to exercises at the end of the book, so that
the readers can correct their answers to them. For best use do not
refer to it before doing the exercises yourselves.
For the words having more than one spelling, I have used the one that
is most common in written Kurdish.
Finally I hope that Dersên Kurdî will help to improve your Kurdish
and give you a better understanding of the Kurdish people.
Baran RIZGAR, London, 1996
V
ALPHABET - ELFABE
1. A,a: nan, dar, baran a in father (always long),
2. B,b: bav, bîr, bilind b in bar, bed, (as in English),
3. C,c: car, cil, bac j in June, jar.
4. Ç,ç*: çar, çil ch in chair, church, Turkish ç.
5. D,d: dar, dil d in dear, do (as in English),
6. E,e*: ere, ez, em,emir a in bat, bad (but shorter).
7. E,ê: êvar, kêr, şêr The open sound as in French ê.
8. F, f: ferheng, felat f in soft (as in English),
9. G,g: gav, agir g in girl (as in English),
10. H,h*: hevok, havîn h in honey (as in English),
I I. i, i: jin, kin, rind as in unaccented the or e in garter,
i 2. Î,î: dîn, şîn, tî ee in seen.
13. J, j: jor, jêr, jîr as in French jour, s in vision,
14. K,k*: ker, kêr, kwîr k in kick (as in English).
15. L, I: law, ierz, dîl I in luck (as in English),
16. M ,m: mar, masî, mîr m in mine (as in English),
17. N,n: nan, nerm, nû n in no (as in English).
18. 0,o: dor, sor, kon 0 in fore (always long),
19. P,p*: por, pûrt, pûng p in park (as in English),
20. Q,q: qaz, qenc, beq guttural q.
21. R,r*: pir, dêr, êrîş as in English.
22. S,s: sê, sîr, bes s in safe (as in English).
23. Ş,ş: şor,şer,şev sh in show, Turkish ş.
24. T,t*: têr, ta, tu t in tear (as in English).
25. U,u: gund, kur, kurt as u in English but very short and
scarcelyaudible.
26. U,û: bûn, dûr long u, as French ou.
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27. V,v: vala, vir, kevir v in fove (as in English).
28.W,w: wek, dew, wanî w in wish (as in English).
29. X,x*: xebat, xanî ch in Scottish loch (very deep French r)
30. Y,y: yek, heye, qey y in boy (as in English).
31. Z,z: zor, zer, pez z in lazy (as in English).
The Kurdish alphabet consists of 31 letters; 23 consonants and 8
vowels (a, e, ê, i, î, o, u, û). The table explains the sounds they
represent. Kurdish spelling is phonetic (using a letter for each
distinct sound). However, some of the letters (the asterisked)
represent pair sounds: aspirated (unaccented) and unaspirated
(accented). In Kurdish we call them dengên cêwî (twin sounds).
Among those, the letters “ç,k,p,r ,t” are important, because they are
in common use and the accent of the sound mayindicate a different
word. To provide a good pronunciation and to avoid confusing
words with one another, I have underlined the letters when being
accented (unaspirated) in the vocabulary (ferhengok) sections. By
doing this I also tiled to distinguish between such words as; “ker/
donkey” and “ker/deaT, pir/bridge and pir/much, many, very.
Thus it should be considered that the underlined letters (£,k,g,r,t)
indicate the accented (unaspirated) pronunciation of the related
letters, not different letters, as they are not underlined in texts.
The difference between the pair sounds represented by the letter r
is that the accented one (r) is rolled. This is why in some Kurdish
texts it is indicated by double r (rr). However, pronouncing r twice
and rolling it is not the same, and as the first letter/sound of a word,
the (r) is always accented (rolled), besides there are many words
with two accented (r) or one unaccented and one accented (r)
following each other in between other letters/sounds. This makes
the double r method impractical. If we apply that method, we
should write the words rê, rêz, berran, piranî, pirreng, pirrû,
rêrast, serrişte, serrû, zêrav, kerelal, qareqar as rrê, rrêz,
berrran, pirranî, pirrrreng, pirrrrû, rrêrrast, serrrişte, serrrû,
zêrrav, kerrelal, qarreqair. It would be inconsistent and confus­
ing to use "rr" for some words, while neglecting the rest.
In some words, e, h and x are pronounced as Arabic
Such pronunciation of those letters has been underlined (e, h, x).
2
aspirated unaspirated/accented unrolled rolled/accented
Ç ? £ r r r
k k k
P P P
t t t
unaccented accented/similar to Arabic sounds
e e ê (Arabic )
h h h (Arabic )
x x x (Arabic )
The only diphthong consists of the letters x and w: xweş,
xwarin. xwe, etc.
Examples of the letters representing pair sounds:
axa tribal chief ku where/Tu çûyî ku?
ax earth, soil, land ku that/Zilamê ku te dît
£° rod, stick m ■ last year
Ço! command to a donkey par share
to move fiîr old
çil greedy PÎ arm
çil forty gee cheek
emel diarrhoea ap paternal uncle
seet watch, hour pir very, much, many
gmir age pir bridge
emir order, command têr satisfied
hal state, situation têr sack
hoy condition birîn wound, injury
heyran admirer binn cut
ker deaf por hair
ker donkey poz nose
ka hay (cut up) şer fight, battle, war
ka where rê road, way
kal old man tir fart
kal unripe, green tir more
kûr blind ta thread
kûr deep ta fever
kar kid (of a goat) tu you
kar work tu none, any
3